13-course lute
Maker
Magnus Tieffenbrucker
Maker
Thomas Edlinger
Repaired by
Rudolph Heckel
Date1530-1629 ca. and 1728
Place MadeAustria-Hungary
Place MadePrague, Czechoslovakia, Europe
Place MadeItaly, Europe
Place MadeCzech Republic
Serial No.none
SignedPrinted on paper label in parallelogram shape with angled sides: Magno dieffopruchar a venetia. [According to Sebastian Kirsch, this label, with unusually large print, is authentic and the same as the label in Kunsthistorches Museum Wien lute SAM 41, 5/9/2024]Printed on paper label, with the last two digits of year written in black ink: Thomas Edlinger Reparavit Pragæ, Anno 1728
MarkingsPrinted on paper label, the year written in black ink: Reparirt von Rud. Heckel /
Dresden, 1907.
DescriptionThis lute was reconstructed from an earlier Italian maple instrument by Thomas Edlinger in 1728, and fashioned into the thirteen-course configuration popular in the early 18th century. The lute remained in the same family from the time of its modification until it was acquired by the National Music Museum.
Thirteen-course Baroque lute. The first two (highest) courses are single, the rest double. The first course is on a chantrelle rider; the twelfth and thirteenth are on a bass rider.
Soundboard: two-piece quarter-cut spruce: narrow-to-wide grain; by Edlinger
Bowl: 11 slab-cut maple staves with birds' eye and narrow curl figures; later ebony strap button near neck
Clasp: two-piece slab-cut maple; remains of outline of earlier clasp indicates this area was reconfigured; dark brown hardwood strap button sawed off at surface; later ebony strap button
Head: black-painted maple; two riders on treble and bass sides; front edges of pegbox with single engraved line decoration; by Edlinger; open center portion with pierced vine-motif maple scrollwork (later)
Neck: veneered with ebony; two ebony pins through veneer into neck, one on each side, near bowl (according to Sebastian Kirsch, this technique is found on Edlinger necks); by Edlinger
Binding: ebony
Fingerboard: ebony; two black-stained maple frets inlaid in soundboard
Nuts: bone
Bridge: black-painted maple and ebony tie bridge; by Edlinger
Tuners: 23 black-stained maple or fruitwood pegs with integral pins
Rose: triple carved spruce rose from earlier lute soundboard
Lacquer: light golden orange on bowl
Bowl lining: recycled paper strips, some with writing in black ink, glued at joints between ribs
Technical drawing available for purchase.
DimensionsTotal 13-course lute length: 949 mm
Top length: 527 mm
Maximum body width: 355 mm
Maximum bowl height: 146.2 mm
Head length: 270.3 mm
Head width, top: 16.5 mm
Head width, bottom: 88.0 mm
Neck length (nut to ribs): 346 mm
Neck width, nut: 88.9 mm
Neck width, heel: 108 mm
Soundhole diameter: 53 mm (upper); 60 mm (bass side); 61 mm (treble side)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 1st course: 773 mm; 11th course: 761 mm; 13th (lowest) course: 826 mm
ProvenancePresumably acquired from the Thomas Edlinger by the Des Fours family and kept at their seat, Hrubý Rohozec castle in Turnov, Bohemia, where the instrument was listed in an eighteenth-century inventory, according to a letter of 17 August 1907 by owner, Nickolaus Graf Des Fours Walderorde. It remained there until shortly after World War II, when the castle was confiscated by the state. In 1946-47 it was taken by Carl Des Fours Walderode to Prague for photography and certification, and shortly afterwards to Vienna, where it was lent to the Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente at the Kunsthistorisches Museum from 28 July 1954 to 12 June 1979. On 14 June 1979, he transferred ownership to his wife, Johanna Kammerlander, who kept it in storage in Schloss Vaduz, Lichtenstein, until its acquisition by the NMM.
The National Music Museum purchased itfrom Johanna Kammerlander at Schloss Vaduz, Lichtenstein.
Published ReferencesRobert Lundberg, Historical Lute Construction (Tacoma, Wash.: Guild of American Luthiers, 2002), pp. 15, 19, 62-63, and 251 (no. 51 in list).
André P. Larson, “From a Bohemian Castle: Unraveling the 400-Year Saga of Italian Lutes Built About 1600,” America’s National Music Museum Newsletter 19, no. 4 (November 2002), pp. 1-3.
Robert Lundberg, “Weiss’s Lutes: the Origin of the 13-Course German Baroque Lutes” (edited and completed by Douglas Alton Smith after the author’s death), Journal of the Lute Society of America, forthcoming (2004).
André P. Larson, “From a Bohemian Castle: Unraveling the 400-Year Saga of Italian Lutes Built About 1600,” Lute Society of America Quarterly Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (February 2009), pp. 6-8.
Edward Martin, “A Tale of Two Lutes in South Dakota. . . A Close View of the Edlinger Lutes in the National Museum- A Player’s Perspective,” Lute Society of America Quarterly Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (February 2009), pp. 9-11.
Technical Drawings
Credit LinePurchase funds gift of Margaret Ann Everist, 2002
Object number10213
On View
On view
